Be My Valentine?
by Taijiya Mizu
Summary: Not wanting to be near all the reds and pinks, Rick hurries home only to stumble across a certain enigma who is not only in a mess of trouble but also holds a secret that comes out at this time each year. For XXFlamingPhoenixXX


**Title:** Be My Valentine?

**Summary:** Not wanting to be near all the reds and pinks, Rick hurries home only to stumble across a certain enigma who is not only in a mess of trouble but also holds a secret that comes out at this time each year.

**Pairing:** Rick/Kai

Hi there, everyone! ^^

Okay, this is another fic going out of my comfort zone. XXFlamingPhoenixXX asked for this fic, and I hope I did her idea justice! ^^

Here you go! My first Rick/Kai one-shot is here!

Kai, do the honors?

Kai – (sighs) I don't see why I always have to do it.

Well, this time it's 'cause Rick won't do it. He's sulking in the corner because I wouldn't talk you into keeping the outfit in this fic on.

Kai – (blushes) Can I hurt him afterwards?

Sure, do whatever you want.

Kai – Fine. Disclaimer: She doesn't own Beyblade. Now, if you will excuse me, I have a bison to bring down. (walks off)

**Key –**

-S-S-S-S- (scene change), "blah" (talking), 'blah' (thinking)

/blah/ (talking between bitbeast/human), _blah_ (author's note at end of chapter)

-blah- (POV/flashback), **blah** (other language)

Enjoy!

-S-S-S-S-S-

Golden rays basked the small city Japan as a light breeze blew through, weaving and winding among the buildings and trees. It played with the bright colored balloons that adorned every street, shop, and restaurant. Everyone seemed to be in bright spirits as they carried off their goodies to give to their sweethearts the next day.

Everyone except Rick Anderson.

Rick grumbled darkly to himself as yet another couple passed him with so many different heart shaped balloons that at least three hit him square in the face. He'd been dealing with this all day.

The PPB All Starz were in Japan for yet another tournament in a few days time. He had just gotten finished with training at the BBA under Judy's direct orders. After training, the dark skinned American always took a nice walk to cool off and relax. It was routine no matter where he was.

Now, he was seriously thinking of another way to relax himself after training.

He growled as another couple passed, their balloons also hitting him in the face defiantly. He turned around to yell at the couple, but something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. He had just passed a dark alleyway, not even bothering to glance down the corridor, but now, there was something to look at.

He frowned, completely forgetting about the couple's balloons that he had been angry about. Striding into the alleyway, hands in pockets, he made his eyes adjust to the shadows before gazing completely at the figure slumped against the far wall.

He gasped.

"K-Kai?" he wondered. To say he was surprised would be an understatement.

Sure enough, the dual haired enigma was sitting slumped against the wall in a long coat, blue jeans, T-shirt, and even a hat on his head. He was dirty, bruised, and bloody from head to toe, his breathing ragged and shallow. He looked unconscious, oblivious to the world.

Rick bit his lip to get him to concentrate on getting the teen out of there and back to his hotel room. Bending down next to the phoenix, he wrapped a strong arm around Kai's shoulders, emitting a small moan of discomfort from him.

"Easy, Kai," he spoke, trying to get the teen to settle down again, but that failed as two violet eyes cracked open and gazed unseeingly up at him. This worried the American. "I'm gonna take you back to my hotel room, okay?"

The phoenix just looked at him before slipping his eyes closed again and falling limp in the bison's arms.

'Damnit, what the hell happened to him?' Rick mused to himself as he picked the boy up in his arms and headed out of the ally. Not caring about the looks he was getting, the stubborn American made his way back to the hotel he and his team were staying at. Being sure to keep out of his teammates' lines of sight, he quickly opened the door and ventured into his single room. 'Thank God that I have my own room.'

He sighed as he took his burden to the bedroom, laying him down gently in case he was further injured than what he could see. He stopped a moment to just look at the teen. When the World Championships had come around the year before, he had hated the phoenix. He thought his bison could beat that over-sized canary any day, but afterwards, he began to see another side to the feisty teen. When the teen battled Brooklyn the last time, he knew that he had fallen for the phoenix. Just the sheer power behind that small form was amazing, but when the teen had stayed at the Granger dojo with the rest of them, he got to see another – almost softer – side to the firecracker known as Kai Hiwatari.

Rick pulled himself from his thoughts as he realized that he should probably make the teen comfortable and clean up some of the blood and dirt.

The bison carefully lifted the hat from the phoenix's head. It was very unusual for him to even wear a hat. Why would he-?

Rick stopped as he saw what was underneath the hat. Instead of just dark slate blue locks, there was a pair of pure black cat ears. The American blinked a few times at the accessory and hoped that they were just plastic, but after trying to touch the furry things, Rick stopped as they twitched ever so slightly.

Nope, they weren't plastic.

He blinked again, not believing what was in front of him. How the hell did the phoenix have cat ears on his head?

He shook his head and decided to wait and ask questions later. Tossing the hat on a nearby chair, he got set to work on removing the rest of the teen's dirty clothes.

He blushed at the thought. That sounded a little more perverted than he wanted it to.

Shaking his head again, still with the deep red marring his features, he removed the phoenix's coat. Sure enough, as soon as he did, a long black tail met his eyes. Okay, this was getting really weird. What the fuck was going on? How – and why – did the badass phoenix from the Blitzkrieg Boys and G-Revolution (former Bladebreakers) get cat ears and tail?! This wasn't making any sense whatsoever.

-S-S-S-S-S-

Rick sighed, running a hand through his white hair. This was really getting frustrating. Kai had yet to wake up in the complete day that he had been in the bison's hotel room. Max had come by four times in the past three hours to ask if he wanted to do something. Judy had come by twice for something. He hadn't bothered to ask – or listen for that matter. Michael and Eddy had come by once to bug him and ask him what he was getting for his "lover" for Valentine's Day.

One: He doesn't have a lover.

Two: How the heck is he supposed to think about getting somebody who doesn't exist a gift for Valentine's Day while he has a part human, part phoenix, and part cat enigma sleeping on his bed?

He would really like to know the answer to the last one because in the past hour of thinking it over, he hadn't been able to figure it out.

Some shuffling from the bed brought him out of his inner ranting. Gazing over at it from the couch he was currently sitting on, he noticed that the phoenix was stirring.

Getting up, Rick made his way over to the dual haired teen and sat in the chair he had placed beside the bed during the first hour of watching him. He had to admit, though, the phoenix looked positively adorable asleep.

Kai groaned as he started to come to. He had a massive headache, and his body was sore as hell. He suddenly realized that he was lying on something soft instead of the hard concrete that had been the alleyway where he had passed out. Fluttering his exotic eyes open, the teen automatically realized that he was not alone in the room. Tilting his head to the side a little so as to not hurt his head any more than it already was, he noticed that the dark skinned American blader from the PPB All Starz was currently sitting next to the bed he was occupying. He blinked up at the teen, confused as to what was going on.

"Rick?" he asked, furrowing his brow in question.

The teen snorted before replying, crossing his arms over his chest as he normally did. "The one and only."

Kai blinked up at him, still wondering what was going on. "What happened?" he asked softly – not that his voice could go above a whisper anyway.

Rick's eyebrow rose slowly. "I think I should be asking you that. I found you in an ally, and to top that off, you not only are injured but – I don't know if you had noticed or not – you have cat ears and a tail to match."

Kai blinked before realizing what the teen had just said. Gasping, the phoenix quickly sat up, ignoring his body and mind's protest of the quick movement, and shifted away from the bison. "Y-You know?"

Rick decided that now was not exactly the time for a witty comeback to that remark. "Uh, yeah, kinda hard to miss."

The younger teen bit his lip in nervousness. "And you're not freaked out by it?"

"I have to admit that it is kinda strange and a little weird, but no, I'm not entirely freaked." Where was the dual haired teen going with this conversation? "Listen, just explain to me what the fuck is going on."

"You have to promise not to tell anyone." Kai's violet orbs never left the American's face. Rick noted that instead of his normal pupils, the teen's were now slit and cat-like.

"I won't tell anyone about it," he promised. "I'm not one for spreading gossip."

Kai let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. Shifting on the bed to get himself comfortable, he decided to tell the American everything. After Rick finally came down a few notches – thanks to Max and himself – he'd begun to actually like the semi-tempered bison. He was calm, quick-thinking, although a little of a blockhead, but still thoughtful and caring and willing to give a hand to one in need.

Rick watched as Kai fought with himself to begin his story. He noticed his tail wrap around his stomach as if trying to comfort the teen. Just like a cat's would. He smirked at that piece of information.

"Okay, the reason for my appearance is because of my mother," the phoenix began. "You see, she was part neko, just like Ray and the other White Tigers. Turns out that because of my genetic make-up – and a few other outside tampering – I kind of turn into a neko-jin for the month of February."

"Why February? Why not any other month?"

Kai sighed and blushed a little at what he was going to say. "It's kind of like going into heat, I guess. February is the beginning of the love and mating of all animals. Since I'm only part neko, I only go into this state during the first month of the mating season instead of the entire time."

Rick nodded. It made sense, although a little strange, but he'd never known the phoenix to lie. Not to mention, this was the best story he could've heard to explain those weird – but obviously cute – ears and tail.

Kai took in another breath, steeling himself. "A drawback to this – other than the ears and tail – is the fact that I become weaker than my normal self. It feels like if I were an actual kitten going up against a dog if I were to fight Max in a sparing match."

Rick's eyes bulged, and before he could stop himself, he laughed, the full rich sound echoing through the room.

Kai flinched and bit his lip, a pink on his cheeks. He was already humiliated with being so self-conscious and weak before the teen, but now he was feeling worse.

Rick finally stopped laughing, wiping his eyes. "Oh, that's funny."

"I-It's not funny," Kai murmured, eyes hiding behind his veil of hair, ears flat against his head in discomfort.

Rick stopped and gazed at the teen. "Hey," he started, "I wasn't laughing at you." Kai's head lifted a little. "I just thought it was a little funny with the way you said it. I mean, imagining Max as this ferocious dog is kinda funny."

Kai snorted, trying to cover a small chuckle. He looked up again, thankfulness shining in his violet eyes. He was glad Rick wasn't making fun of him. He already had enough issues to deal with. His self-esteem not being one of his favorite.

Rick smiled a little as the phoenix-neko relaxed a little more. "Continue. How did you get in such a state and in an ally?"

Kai bit his lip again. "Well, I had to go to the store to get a few groceries, and when I was coming back, I was jumped. There is this gang that appeared about a year ago here in Japan. If everything was under normal circumstances, I would have been able to fight them off, but since it wasn't. . . ." he trailed off, tears threatening to fall as his body shook. He felt so helpless, so weak.

Rick watched the teen. "You weren't able to fight them off." Kai nodded, a small sob making its way out of his throat. Now, it was the bison's turn to bite his lip. He could understand what Kai was feeling. Always capable of taking care of yourself, and then one month out of the entire year, you feel as helpless as a baby. It was not a good feeling.

Now, Kai was sitting there, trying so hard not to cry and let those worthless-feeling emotions out. It broke the bison's heart to see the normally fiery teen this way. Ignoring the fact that his mind was telling him not to comfort the teen, he moved forward to where he was sitting on the bed and pulled the phoenix into his arms. "Hey, it's okay," he whispered, running his fingers along the taunt back. "Let it out. I know how you're feeling. It's okay. Everything will be alright."

"Why are you helping me?" came a soft voice as Kai buried his face into the older teen's shirt. "Why do you care?"

Rick frowned a little. Why did he care? What was it to him whether or not the phoenix was alright? What was it to him whether the teen was crying, feeling sorry for himself?

'Because you like him, you idiot,' his inner voice scolded. 'You don't want to see him crying, hurting. That should be a duh for you, smartass.'

Rick pulled away and looked at Kai's violet orbs with his own soft ones. He smiled a little at the teen's confused, watery look. The ears on his head were twitching a little but lying slightly down on the teen's head. He had the wet kitty look down pat, and the older teen couldn't contain himself any longer.

He pressed his lips to the phoenix's.

Kai let out a surprised sound as Rick pressed his lips to his. The bison started gently coaxing his soft lips into participating in the kiss, and Kai couldn't resist complying. His eyes closed as he pressed his lips back against the taller teen's, relishing in the electricity running through his veins. His tail unwrapped itself from around his waist and as he moved closer to the bison, laid itself against the American's side in a loving manner.

All too quickly, the need for oxygen caused them to pull away.

Rick gazed into those exotic orbs that he loved so much. He smirked. "Don't worry, we'll keep your secret together, and I won't let any more gangs hurt you."

Kai stared at the teen in wonder before smiling softly himself, making Rick inwardly twitch as the need to kiss the teen again began to overwhelm him. "Thank you."

They shared another kiss before pulling back again.

Rick smirked again as a though crossed his mind. "You know, Judy and Max said that maybe getting an animal would help me relax when I'm not training. I'm starting to think that they were right."

Kai blushed deep red and knocked the bison in the back of the head for the comment. "Rick, I'm not your-"

He never got to finish as the older teen pressed his lips against his again, pushing him to the bed, and inserting his tongue in the warm cavern that was Kai's mouth. The phoenix moaned, completely forgetting about why he was angry as he participated in the kiss, even while Rick's thick hands toyed with his sensitive cat ears. The teen even started to purr into the kiss.

Rick just smirked at his newly found ability of getting Kai's mind off of things.

This was turning out to be the best Valentine's Day.

-S-S-S-S-S-

Owari

Hope you are able to spend the rest of your life with those you love.

Happy Valentine's Day

-S-S-S-S-S-

There it is! My first Rick/Kai.

Hope you liked it, and I hope you were satisfied with it, XXFlamingPhoenixXX!

Don't forget to review!

Ja Ne

Miz


End file.
